So story week, with the exception of a few cheesetastic moments, wasn’t terrible At least not for me. Only a few tears were shed, and I was impressed by just how pretty everyone looked – no totally weird costumes, which means no cheesecake material in the costume department, unfortunatley, but at least they were all nice to look at!

A few overall thoughts on tonight: Len is loco and sometimes scores with his pee-pee; Carrie Ann is still in heat and is scoring with her va-jay-jay more than ever; Petra & Kendra may not be getting enough votes; Ralph & Kirstie may be getting too many votes; annd Tom Bergeron still reigns supreme as king of off-the-cuff humor 😀

1.) Hines & Kym – If I were Ralph or Kirstie, I would be very, very afraid of Hines – because right now, he’s making some pretty tough choreography look like a piece of cake while they’re still struggling. I think that may be his greatest asset – nothing seems hard for him. And of all of the male contestants this season, I think he is the only one that (most of the time) actually leads Kym, rather than her doing a lot of backleading. Now THAT is impressive Plus, the guy is always smiling, and seems to really work hard during his practice sessions. I was worried that the samba would be his Achilles heel – negative, ghostrider. He may not have truly killed it like he did with his quickstep last week, but I daresay that was a pretty damn good samba for it only being week 3. Aside from having the highest score, I think the Steelers Nation is still very, very much a force in keeping these two safe – and they may be growing in number, with the amount of Terrible Towels I’m seeing each week

2.) Ralph & Karina – I could almost tell by the look on Len’s face before he even opened his mouth that he had already chosen Ralph as one of his whipping boys this week. Granted, I don’t think the rumba was Ralph’s best dance (and I do think there were stronger rumbas tonight), but that stodgy old coot Len went all Sugar Ray on him and tore that dance to shreds. *sigh* Honestly, like Sugar Ray’s jive last week, I really don’t think this was that bad – I do think Karina let Ralph down a bit in the choreo department, and Ralph is still doing something funky with his hands and could have infused a bit more passion into the dance, but I don’t think it was 21-worthy. I would have given it at least a 23. My only guess is that maybe Ralph is getting HOARDS of votes, and this is the judges’ not-so-subtle way of trying to level the playing field once more. Dancing in the Pimp Spot certainly won’t hurt him, but I daresay the Team Kamacchio fans will likely vote even harder this week to make up the difference, since he’s dropped a few points since last week.

3.) Kirstie & Maks – My heart just absolutely shattered when I saw these two go down I couldn’t really tell what had happened, but at first I was like “Oh no! Poor Kirstie! Did she just lose her balance?” and it wasn’t until later that I saw that it was actually Maks’ leg that had given out – and then I got REALLY worried. Most pros can dance through the pain – if it isn’t too bad. But poor Maks just had “OUCH!” written all over his face. I’m sure every news outlet is going to be replaying that fall tomorrow (ugh), but I have to give the judges and the hosts props for doing their best not to rub it in – I think everyone was really classy about it. And from what I saw of the rumba they did do, I really liked it – it was simple, stripped down, and had a very honest, vulnerable quality to it. Everything I like in a rumba Now comes my suspicions: I have to wonder if the judges would have given Kirstie a 21 regardless, because from the looks on their faces when they whipped out those 7 paddles, I got the feeling they had almost planned those scores ahead of time. Kirstie is definitely one of the more popular contestants this season, and I would venture a guess that she’s getting a good share of the votes – maybe this was another opportunity to “level the playing field”. Or not…I could be a bit paranoid Either way, I think the GMak fans will vote even harder after the little mishap tonight!

4.) Chris & Cheryl – As some of you may have seen me declare on Twitter “I like Chris more and more each week.” And not just because he’s a nice guy that has a softer side – I actually do see improvement in him from week to week. I get the feeling that Chris is putting 110% of himself into doing well. I think this may have been my favorite rumba of the night, and here’s why: Chris was the guy that managed to do more than just stand there while their partner danced around them (ahem, Karina & Chelsie) and was still there for their partner at every moment. Chris still managed to look exciting while standing still, and never took his eyes off Cheryl. Plus there was a vulnerability to him tonight that I absolutely loved 😀 And I know I’ve said it many times before, but I’ll say it again: Chris has a BIG edge in having Cheryl as his partner. I think these two are a lock for at least the semi-final at this point. And I can’t wait to see what he can really do!

5.) Chelsie & Mark – Surprise, surprise – Mark overdanced yet again. But luckily, I think Chelsea is the first partner he’s had that has really been able to keep up in both the energy and the face-pulling department, hehe 😉 This was a cute cha-cha – a bit frantic at times, but cute nonetheless. I’m glad they went for a more traditional cha-cha, despite a more rock-type song. Chelsea still seems like she’s a little afraid to really extend her legs and arms, which is hopefully something that will diminish as the season rolls on. It kinda sucks, but I really don’t have a whole lot more to say about these two. Hopefully that’s not a sign that they’re already becoming forgettable to me :-/

6.) Romeo & Chelsie – AKA, Len’s Whipping Boy #2. Another unwarranted rant from Len…grrrr. Was this rumba perfect? Hell no. But I do think it was an improvement, and was underscored by a point or 2. I liked seeing Romeo more vulnerable and even a bit nervous – the bravado seems to slowly be creeping away, folks. I think Chelsie may have let him down a bit with the choreo, though – this was another instance of the female pro just blantantly dancing circles around their partner. I kinda wish she had involved him a bit more in the dance, like Cheryl did with Chris – but then again, maybe Romeo couldn’t have handled it at this stage of the competition. I’m wondering if Romeo is going to be one of those guys that are better at the ballroom dances, since they aren’t so “frou-frou” and don’t require him to let loose as much. I think these 2 ought to be safe this week, just due to there still being crappier dancers with a dubious fanbase to vote for them…

7.) Kendra & Louis – Ok judges, I give up: what is it that is so damn great about Kendra? Seriously, what is it? Because I’m baffled as to why she’s been overscored 2 weeks in a row now. Yes, the song she danced to was lovely and she looked very nice, but she still looks very wobbly to me, and definitely got off-time a few times in this routine. And she always seemed to have a rather lost expression on her face – like she was looking to Louis for reassurance after each step. The one thing I did like? The did some pretty cool tricks – probably the best of any of the couples tonight…but we all know a good routine is more than just a “hodgepodge of flashy tricks”, as Len would say. I think this may be yet another instance of the judges trying to equalize again – judging from Kendra’s crappy running order positions the past 2 weeks, I’m thinking she’s one of the less popular contestants…and may not be getting the votes TPTB think she should. Hence, a bit of a boost from the judges. She will likely stick around another week or two, but if I were her I would start improving by leaps & bounds if I wanna last longer.

8.) Petra & Dmitry – Can’t decide if the scoring on this one was a) an attempt to make things more equal among the contestants, b) Len following the urges of his loins, or c) collective lunacy on the part of the judges. A 25??? REALLY?!!! No way in HELL this was anywhere near as good as Hines’ samba, with which it tied for highest score (if memory serves…too lazy to look it up right now :-P). I will admit, it has been Petra’s best dance thus far; but she’s still shuffling her feet, missing steps, and “making weird shapes” with her body. And dadgummit, she can’t manage to keep those long legs of hers on the floor when Dmitry does anything that could remotely be construed as a lift? Then again, the Lift Police seems to be too busy enjoying her engagement and scoring with her genitals to notice. Grrrr. I have to wonder if the outrageous score was a byproduct of the field-leveling and it being almost impossible to hate Petra. The woman is an absolute DOLL. But again, I’m wondering if she’s just not getting the votes, and needs a little help from the judges to stick around a bit longer…

9.) Sugar Ray & Anna – You notice I added the “Sugar” back in front of Ray’s name? I can’t resist – this guy is just so damn sweet And while the debate on Twitter seems to be between Sugar Ray & Wendy on who’s going home, I will just say this: I got far more enjoyment watching Ray cheese his way through his paso routine tonight than I got from Wendy’s bizarre facial expressions during her foxtrot. Really, I didn’t think his paso was terrible – gimmicky, yes, but it seemed to work in his favor. Poor Ray just seems to move so small – I can’t decide if it’s years of boxing injuries that have limited his mobility or what, but I think he’d be light-years better if he could just move BIGGER. I’m not sure these two have much time left on the show, but I hope they can at least outlast…

10.) Wendy & Tony – I don’t think I need to reiterate any further my disdain for Wendy, so I’ll try to keep this brief: Wendy’s a non-event for me. I think I’d rather watch paint dry/grass grow/water boil/etc. than watch another one of her low-energy, slow-moving dances. This was the 2nd week in a row that her dance felt more like a leisurely stroll across the floor, and she too seemed to get a bit lost if Tony wasn’t in her line of sight. And let’s just say her mannerisms off the floor just irk me. ‘Nuff said. I hope that America gets it right this week and sends her packing…from the look on his face, I think Tony hopes so too

Alright, my beautiful little monsters, discuss: who’s going home tomorrow night? Who sank and who swam tonight? Did you enjoy storytelling week or hate it? And while you discuss, might I make a suggestion? It certainly wouldn’t hurt to tweet some encouraging words to both Maks & Kirstie…both just looked heartbroken after their dance. If you’re a GMak fan, let them know you care; if you’re not, maybe just send some positive energy their way. Good karma never hurt anyone 😀

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donnie Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night" as a paso doble. Check out some of my other work at pureamericasgottalent.com!

“It’s not how you fall, it’s how you get up” ….For that reason alone, I am placing Maks and Kirstie in 1st place. The fall might not have been planned, but, the fall went naturally with and into the dance and they made it their own regardless. Kirstie didn’t let the fall phase her in the bit. Talk about facing adversity. Perfect and just magical like the judges said!! I am so proud of them and I hope Maks is ok! 9+

2. Petra and Dimitry – Wow! I was just stunned. I was starting to count her out. Well, they made their strong stand tonight. I saw one mis-step, but, who cares. The whole dance flowed and was just flawless. Awesome choreography. Gorgeous lines and this was “magical” too. Good job Petra!!! 9

3. Ralph and Karina – Why does it seem the judges have to pick out one couple this year and nit pick? I don’t know what they saw, but, I thought this dance was excellent. I loved Ralph’s long leg lines. Unlike the judges, I love his hands and arms too which are “him” and make him unique. Everything came straight from the heart. I loved the end when he went to his wife and kneeled. 9

4. Romeo and Chelsie – He needs to stop worrying so much about his shoes and looking cool. It continues to hold him back some. Otherwise, I felt all of his emotion in the story. I loved his and Chelsie’s connection. 8-

5. Kim and Hines – I felt like Hines was slightly stiff, but, other than that, great entertaining dance. Kym was fantastic and they had some clever bends and moves. He was such a charmer as always and full of class. 7+

6. Chelsea and Mark – I thought she could use more feet and hip movement. Mark seemed to over power her trying to make up for it at times. Other than that, it was a good dance. 7-

7. Chris and Cheryl – It felt slightly stiff at times but, I loved all the raw emotion in this dance that made up for it. He’s so cool and a total class act. Cheryl was beautiful as well. 7-

8. Kendra and Louis – The beginning was a little weird for me. It seemed hung up. But, she had some really cool bends and twirls in the middle. I loved some of her lines too. She was a lot better this week and didn’t seem so nervous. She’s like a butterfly waiting to come out of it’s cocoon if she will let herself. 7-

9. Sugar Ray and Anna – His feet needed to move more. I wished he was lighter on his feet. I think he let what the judges said last week effect him too much and shame on them for that. 6

10. Wendy and Tony – This had to be the most painful dance to watch ever on DWTS. All she did was walk around. It’s time for her to go. If I was a judge, I wouldn’t give her more than a “1”. Seriously.

I really enjoyed tonight, even though there was some wonky scoring.
Hines kicked some major butt, that was a great Samba and he deserved his score definitely. Ralph’s dance was underscored by at least two points. He’s got funky arms and hands yes, but it was rather lovely overall. Romeo did not impress me like he did last week, something just went wrong this week for him. Petra’s dance was beautiful, but not worth a 25 I think, more of a 23 or 22. I give Kirstie and Maks a standing ovation for getting straight up and continuing their dance. I thought they just lost their balance at first, but Maks hurt himself, and I’m worried now. Chelsea and Mark were just too adorable! High energy and a pretty darn good dance. She could use a little more hips, little bit more movement, but she had some pretty good foot placement, and her lines looked nice. If she keeps working at it, Hines will have to be careful with her. Chris’s dance brought tears to my eyes, that’s all I’ll say. Kendra did alright, but overscored, she wasn’t up to par with Chelsea. I liked Ray’s Paso, not much to say. Wendy is the my pick to go, not near enough energy.

I think the judges do tend to nit pick when it comes to Ralph and Karina. Maybe he is difficult to criticize so they exaggerate what little they can find to work with
? I don’t know.
I feel badly for them. I think they were disappointed with the scores.

I missed more than half of tonight’s show thanks to the lovely monsoon sweeping the southeast tonight. Between the wind knocking out the satellite or our super chatterbox interruption-happy meteorologist, I only caught a few bits and pieces. Couldn’t Mother Nature save her tantrums for the wee hours of the night when most people are sleeping? $%@#

Glad to hear that Hines got 1st place and happy for Petra as well. She’s definitely better suited for the ballroom dances.

Terrific rankings, Courtney! What a night tonight, eh? Wowsa! Okay, here’s how I saw it. My top three of the night were…

1. Kirstie and Maks – Come on, had they not fallen, that would have been the most emotional, magical dance of the evening. As it was it was freakin’ amazing! I sure hope Maks isn’t hurt bad. Seriously, you could see the man was hurting, but they got up and continued and it was absolutely lovely!

2. Petra and Dmitry – Their waltz was lovely, just as I knew it would be. I think this might be Petra’s perfect dance. It suits her long lines and her lack of … um… mobility? No, it’s not that, she just doesn’t feel the music inside her most of the time, I think. But this played on all her strengths and emphasized none of her weaknesses. I thought it was terrific. (and if you knew how much I dislike Dmitry, you’d know how this pains me. *LOL*)

3. Chelsea and Mark – I really, really enjoyed this dance. It was fun, it was sweet and spicy in the right spots and it really is good to see Mark have a partner he can truly dance with. Yeah, Chelsea has an odd little thing happening with her hips, but darn it, they’re so cute, I couldn’t find it in me to care overly much. I thought they nailed it!

The next bunch are pretty much interchangeable for me.

4. Ralph and Karina – It was an honest and emotional dance. A real little love poem to Ralph’s wife and I have to admit, I just like to see Ralph dance.

5. Chris and Cheryl – Again… watch this guy, he’s gonna be there for a while. Even my son, a DWTS non-fan, came by when Chris was dancing and said, “Damn, he’s good for a wrestler. He’s not letting anything hold him back. He’s having fun and he’s not afraid to show it.” And that’s the thing. Chris is charming and fun and not afraid to chuckle at himself. He improved over last week, I thought, but the main thing was that he was enjoying the whole process.

6. Hines and Kym – I just don’t get the volume of Hines love. Tonight I found him top-heavy. It was as if his shoulders were too heavy for him to carry around -and I found his upper body clunky. Good feet for dance #3 and Kym is just so sexy, she makes things work for her partner. He’s just bland to me though. No edge or anything – and I have to admit, I think I need my male celebs to have something… mischief, wickedness… SOMETHING other than good-natured affability. I thought he was over-scored too.

7. Sugar Ray and Anna – Another one who improved from last week. He sure brought the attitude tonight, but oddly, his footwork is weak. I say oddly because he’s a boxer and as such, should be lighter and … um… dancier (yes, that’s a real term). I think maybe he needs to loosen up a little more? I really don’t know, but what I DO know is that if it’s there, Anna will bring it out of him. (And isn’t she adorable this season, all fiesty and spunky!)

My bottom of the pack are as follows…

8. Kendra and Louie – Only really because she improved from last week. I have to agree with Bruno on this one… she reminded me of a stripper. And that gritted teeth smile of hers doesn’t do her any favours in my book. She was wobbly more than a few times tonight and I thought all the judges scored her at least a point higher than she deserved.

9. Romeo and Chelsie – He didn’t dance! He stood there and she pranced and pirouetted around him. Yeah, sure, he posed… and he posed… and posed some more, but that was it. Maybe his feet hurt in the leprechaun shoes? I dunno, but colour me unimpressed.

10. Wendy and Tony – Oh, dear LORD, put us out of our misery. That woman is slower than molasses! She continues to say how she wants to be there and she wants to dance and do well, but honey, the proof is in the pudding and it’s not showing up on the dance floor! Poor, poor Tony. Maybe he needs to stick a pin in her butt to get her moving. God, something, ANYTHING!

I would LOVE to see the encore go to Maks and Kirstie so we could see their routine in its entirety, but if Maks’ leg is hurt, maybe we should give that a pass this week? I would be completely good with Petra and Dmitry dancing again. Their waltz was really lovely.

And while Len appears to have gotten his share of fibre this week, maybe in some cases a little too much, I really wish Carrie Ann would stop judging with her damned hormones!

Please, God, let it be Wendy going home tomorrow. It’s just painful now!

Couldn’t disagree more on your opinion of Petra and Dmitry! The dance was elegant and graceful and included all of the technical elements the judges like to see. Hines danced well but no better than Petra! The couple that got robbed were Mark and Chelsea. Their scores should have been higher! Don’t know what CarrieAnn has against them.

I agree straight up with your rankings Courtney! Hines, Kirstie, Ralph and Chris had dances I actually remember and I’d watch again on youtube. Everyone had actually improved this week and I do like how the celebrities were able to tell personal stories and pick songs. I thought Petra danced beautifully and she is so likable, but i do think she was overscored. I really felt for Romeo also. i want him to do well!

I saw one bobble on Petra’s part, but overall, I thought her waltz was stunning. It seemed to me that she’s figured out what to do with her arms – those lines seemed to go on and on and on… I was very happy for her 25.

And as for Hines, as Courtney said, it was pretty good for a week 3 effort, but I agree with Vogue – he was somewhat stiff. I thought a 25 was a bit high for that dance.

Poor Ralph – it did seem like he was Len’s designated whipping boy tonight. I didn’t see any issues with his core strength like Carrie Ann did; does anyone know what she was referring to there?

Also thought I saw tears welling up in Chris’ eyen when the judges started their critique of his routine. You could tell he put a lot of himself into the work, and I thought it was sweet.

Like everyone else, my heart jumped when Maks & Kirstie fell. When he held his finger up, I didn’t think he was going to be able to continue. I was sooooo glad they did, though! I just hope whatever happened to Maks isn’t bad enough that he loses rehearsal time or (God forbid) has to lay out for a time.

Once again, TPTB surprised me. All in all this was a REALLY good night of dances! 😀

Imagine this scenario… Wendy gets eliminated tomorrow night and if Maks is too injured to carry on (at least for a week or so, though I really hope he’s okay and just needs ice), what if Tony stepped in for him? They appear to be about the same height and are good friends (I noticed Tony jumped up to help Maks when he walked away after they got their scores) so I think Kirstie would be in good hands if the situation is worse than it appeared to be.

I know there are gonna be a crapload of jokes made about Maks “dropping” her but I give them (especially her) tons of credit for being able to get back up and carry on. I probably would’ve crawled behind the judges table.

Some of the “theme weeks” have been sucky but I hope they keep “personal story” week for future seasons. I wish there had been a wider variety of dance styles but I think since some of the stories were so heartfelt and touching, a dance like the rumba was better suited for them. I kinda wish there had been a couple more upbeat stories/dances like Hines’s and Chelsea’s but overall I enjoyed this week’s show.

Also, did anyone else catch the “Aw, I love you!” and “Full-time lover” comments in Hines and Kym’s opening package? Anyone have any scoop on whether these two are getting “closer” off the dance floor? They don’t seem to be as tweet-happy as most of the others.

Man I had to turn away when Maks got hurt – it made me feel so bad for them I couldn’t look. I rewatched it though, of course, when I was better prepared I gotta say, Kirstie moves amazingly well for her age and size. She has a great awareness of her body and I can only imagine if she had done the show 40lbs and a few years ago there’d be no one even close to her. I’m sure they’ll be safe though.

Sugar Ray looked no better tonight than he did last week – there were a few moments of awkwardness, a few nice moments, and I can see he’s really trying – in both dances. I think it’s just a testament to how harshly he was scored last week.

Petra is such a doll. I love watching her, and even though I didn’t think her waltz was without flaws and she isn’t ever going to be a great dancer, I still enjoy watching her (despite Dmitry boring me to tears). She is probably in danger, but I’m glad they scored her nice and high.

I thought they were overly critical of Ralph again, I mean I see what they are saying about the hands but he’s got HUGE hands (just like Kurt Warner – and Ralph is a much smaller guy). I thought it was pretty interesting choreography and I liked it.

I loved Chris and Cheryl’s rumba – it was super sentimental and touching and I liked the way he moved throughout. I had a few loose tears, and I saw that Chris had a glint of moisture in his eyes. My favorite rumba of the night.

I liked Romeo as well, except there were just a few moments where I didn’t think it was that clean – but still, I enjoyed it and I think the wall came down again just a little bit further.

The samba is one of my favorite dances, and I liked Hines a lot tonight – and Kym, of course. I thought it was pretty damn good for week three. There were a few moments where his legs were a bit stiff, but overall it was fun and well executed (was there a bit of a near fall by Kym toward the end, or was that planned?).

I liked Chelsea and Mark’s cha cha a lot – and I gotta empathize with her cause when I was her age I didn’t have any hips either. Hard to shake what ya ain’t got. At least I had more butt to work with. But it was fun and the song was better than I expected it to be. She and Mark are definitely suited for one another, except her facial expressions are on the good side of intense, whereas his faces are often just a bit on the wrong side.

I had a hard time remembering Kendra’s dance, but I agree with the judges that her legs looked much better when they were solid, but they did get a bit wobbly here and there. A couple of really neat tricks though, so generally I liked it but not as much as the others.

Wendy. Ugh. Get her offa my screen. And if Maks is injured and has to take a break from practicing bring in Jonathan! But he’d probably bring in Tony, oy. I do hope that Wendy goes home. I just don’t care about her, or her dancing. She’s not nearly as bad as Kate Gosselin, but she’s definitely the closest there is to a Kate this season.

When Hines Ward dancers I fell like I want to get up and dance with him. He is still my favorite. Romeo
has rhythm, but he is a little rough around the edges (kinda moves like he is playing basketball) and he loses his place when he is not in close hold with Chelsiie.

10) Wendy: she made me a fan of hers but she needs to go this week. It just wasn’t good. Hopefully, Tony gets a better prtner next season.

9) Romeo: I agreed with Len.

8) Sugar Ray: not perfect but a lot of fun to watch. The punching bag at the end was overkill though.

7) Kendra: It was good but she can def can do way better. The red smoke was overkill in my opinion.

6) Mark and Chelsea: He overdanced yes but she kept up w him the whole way. The song sucked though.

5) Chris and Cheryl: I liekd it a lot. He is improving by leaps and bounds.

4) Ralph and Karina: It was good but rumba isn’t his thing I’m guessing. Can’t wait to see him do a cha cha or something more upbeat.

3) Petra: I loved it. she derved all 9s.

2) Kirstie: Despite the fall, she really did a nice job. Se poved that the show goes on and was onlty better after the fall.

1) Hines and Kym: I saw his bigger than life personailty this week and it worksed well in the dance. He was by far the best of the night. I was expecting a ten paddle from Carrie Ann to be honnest with you but def best of the night.

Love the recaps. If you are so inclined head over to EW.cm and read Annie Barrett’s recap also. She was funny this morning. Especially liked her description of Kendra getting eaten up by the fog machine. Kendra almost took a tumble coming down the steps out of the fog. She seemed to be in there longer than necessary also.

So completely ignoring the dances and just going on the story I think Wendy is leaving.

10)Wendy: Starting in the biz
9)Sugar Ray: overcoming adversity
8)Kendra: Love triumphing over all the odds
7)Chelsea: First love
6)Ralph: Anniversary tribute to his wife
5)Hines: Celebration of his mother
4)Petra: Helping kids hurt by disaster (and a practically gospel song)
3)Romeo: Cousins who died as kids
2)Kirstie: Parents hit by drunk driver as her career takes off
1)Chris: Paralyzed mother who made him follow his dreams and has since passed away

I also was glad to see them not put any bad footage of kendra’s rehersals. This might have been the first week where we got to see her emotions and family and not just her humor. her son is adorable and her husband is an awesome basketball player, who the producers should get next season for the show. Imagine him paired with Kym or Anna D or Edyta (I miss edyta lol).

I didn’t like Romeo’s shoe outburst……brought me back to master P. He had me in his corner last week but ow i just want him gone ASAP.

As for Kirstie, she should be safe. If i remeber correctly, Jennie Garth took a flop in one of her dances and was safe and she wasn’t halfway as good as kirstie is.

I also have a question: Is there any news on Maks? Cuz I remeber watching his ghost story thing on the Bio network and was curious if he injured himself in the same spot.

Story night was great! Hearing the stories of all the celebs was nice and all the emoting all over the place…I liked it. TPTB did a great job with this theme week.

I am so happy for Petra and Dmitry – she really stood out and I thought (as I have from week 1) that she was the picture of grace (minus perfect technique) on the dancefloor. Other long limbed celebs have not had the beautiful lines that she has – and it looks effortless for her. The waltz really suited her. Yay!

Loved Hines and Kym. They are just fun to watch, he of the 1000 watt smile. I hated what he was wearing though.

Chris and Cheryl were great – I loved his vulnerability too.

And Chelsea is cute as a button. I wish Mark would let her stand out more.

I, too, felt awful for Kirstie and Maks. I had to rewatch their dance this morning because I was so floored that they fell I missed most of their rumba. She handled it amazingly well, though, and I really hope Maks is OK because it would be a shame to not be able to watch these two together in the coming weeks.

As for everyone else, Chelsie danced circles around Romeo – by design. She and Mark overpower their partners sometimes, but I see improvement in him. His ego is receding.

I was not into Ralph this week at all.

Sugar Ray…meh. I don’t think he’s as awful as the judges think he is, but he doesn’t stand out for me in any way.

Kendra: better this week. She handled the curtain of fog pretty well, but I’m still not a fan. I would not miss her if she left. Her husband is a sweetheart though and how cute is her son? Love that curly hair!

And somebody please, PLEASE put Wendy out of my misery. She lumbers around the dancefloor. I can’t watch her anymore – there is nothing pleasing about her dancing at all.

Hines isn’t ready for the 10 paddle but who the hell was ready for a bachacata and botofogos and voltas with such zest? Content rich Samba! This guy can move. Not the prettiest footwork in the world, and he tends to tackle the dance position, but give him time..it’s only week 3. As Damian Whitewood tweeted “The Samba King” It’s really neat, Damian does a little twitter play by play and he was surprised as many of the pros were at Hines. He’s getting the tough stuff early and doing it. I caught a little bauble right at the end, Kym was coming out of the slide move, and slipped but Hines was there for her! What a partner. Incredible.

I thought Petra showed a lot of improvement in her flow over the previous outings, coupled with a song of hope, it was a really nice choreography from Dmitry. The footwork wasn’t clean, heel leads non existent, some of the shapes were funky, agree with the OP but the performance quality was right there.

I thought Kendra’s legs were great, Louis spent a lot of time with her and it shows. That fog was just awkward…and I thought these guys need to rehearse with the machine.

Romeo’s stiffness was highlighted in the stilted rumba. Chelsie’s choreo didn’ really help the situation. Twirling around him doesn’t do him any favors.

Chris’ dance was nice, but safe…I feel like Cheryl could push Chris a bit more, more extension and he could do a little more dancing, and be a bit more engaging. I thought the choreo was really solid though

Ralph to me is just over rated. He’s a little flacid on the Rumba, I felt there was no real connection to Karina, and then he strikes these sharp poses that just don’t match the flow. Those arms need attention, and I don’t think the hips were really working the way they should on this dance.

Kirstie may have had a good Rumba going but the dance literally fell apart, when Maks had to take more than the standard 4 count to get back on track. They’ll be back next week as long as Maks is healthy for sure.

Sugar Ray’s dance if you can call it that was a little bit of a sad denoument. I found it lacking in technique and the performance was a shadow of his former greatness.

Truthfully I thought Chelsea wasn’t as good as I thought she was going to be. I thought her footwork was really wide, looking especially at the forward locks, and the hip action was a little stiff. I don’t appreciate Mark dancing while she stands there in admiration, she should be filling the minute 30 too.

Wendy is an absolute beginner and there’s too much of a learning curve for her to bring the performance up.

Er, vin? Kendra’s husband is a football player…and not a great one, if memory serves. He was benched for a good portion of the season he spent playing for the Colts before he got traded to Minnesota. Did you maybe confuse his last name (Baskett) with the sport he plays?

As for Maks’ injury – I guess he & Kirstie were going to be talking about it on GMA this morning, but I was already at work when it allegedly aired. I’m sure Vogue could probably find a clip of it to share later, though 😉

I think Court got it just about right. Remember, power rankings aren’t just about score, but the over all package – for that reason alone, Petra is in the right place. Love the girl, but she’s not a standout – she’s just not that good of a dancer. And there’s no way that dance was worthy of a 25. I suspect she’s not getting the votes. I also suspect that a week in the near future she may be the shocking elimination. As for Chelsea – I like her too, but I believe my comment on twitter was that that dance just started off very, very strangely. Difficult song choice, I think.

I don’t agree that Kirstie was better than Jennie – I don’t think it’s that simple. I think Kirstie is an entertaining, fearless performer, whereas Jennie was better technically but had horrible stage fright most of the time, which affects the performance sometimes. It would be hard to compare the two, straight up. That said, Jennie fell because Derek slipped on her dress and started to go down and took Jennie with him. His dress designs from then on out were much simpler.

Thanks Heidi For a second there, I thought I might be taking crazy pills and maybe Petra’s waltz was really 25-worthy…but then I watched it again and I stand by my opinion that it was overscored. I think the fact that it was an improvement (though not a huge one, IMO) and the judges reeeeally overscored her have some people believing that she was a lot better than she really was. I also think the smoke may have cleverly concealed some of her blunders…it was almost impossible to see her feet clearly during a few moments.

And vin, as for Romeo’s shoe tantrum – I think Chelsie was right: it was less about the shoes and more about the routine itself. Romeo doesn’t strike me as the type of guy that’s really in touch with his feelings – I think he may have been having a hard time with the personal nature of his rumba,, and rather than admit it, he let his frustration out by bitching about his shoes.

I LOVED Hines last night, I felt it was the highlight of the evening! I also was very surprised at how much I thought Chris gave to his dance, it really was mesmerizing. I found that once Maks went down I couldn’t concentrate on the rest of the dance nor Karina & Ralph’s but upon rewatching them this morning, I thought Kirstie did fantastic and let the mis-step roll right off her back (a REAL pro) and I actually really loved Karina’s choreo! I was underwhelmed with Chelsea and Mark’s cha cha and I’d been really anticipating it but I’m starting to worry that Mark’s ego is starting to play with him, just because you have a capable contestant doesn’t mean you should throw all the rules out the window, I love Mark and would be thrilled to see him get to the finals but I’m hoping that he can do what’s right for Chelsea to get her there, as opposed to him feeling satisfied that he’s pushed the envelope enough to make “them” stand out…just my two cents.

Does anyone know what dress Brook Burke was wearing? It had a black upper with the skirt a mix of gold and black that almost appeared a’s a animal print , this was on the 4-4-11 show , any help would be appreciated

i”m happy that Petra and Dmitry got such raves last night because she’s so sweet and quiet, it”s easy for her to get lost in the mix of big personalities and better dancers. And I’d much rather watch her than a couple of the others – namely Wendy and Ray, and, OK, Romeo and Kendra too. If she stands out, maybe she stays a while longer.

I thought Petra and Kendra were much improved this week. Before last night I was ready for both of them to go, but now I think they have potential. And Chris continues to surprise me!

I just about died when Maks fell. I so hope he isn’t seriously injured. For his own sake, and because I am so loving him with Kirstie. She did a magnificent job of continuing that dance. There is a great connection there, and they are so enjoyable to watch together. I hope they will be all right to continue with the rest of the season!

Hines was so enjoyable – I need to go watch his and Kym’s dance again. He is definitely a contender to go all the way.

There are so many great contestants this season – I really love that there isn’t one or two far beyond the pack.

Finally, I feel so bad for Tony, but please put Wendy out of her misery!

I was pretty much on board with the judges except they did over score Petra IMO.

Not to repeat too much of what was already said- I thought Hines was the best of the night but one can still see where there is room for improvement. He is tackling everything Kym throws at him seamlessly and his range of movement is already much bigger then of many other contestants. Petra was good but not 25 good. Ralph had strange movement for me. Not much flow to their Rumba. Kirstie- well, unfortunately everybody including me will remember the fall much more then the actual dance. Maks took quite long to recover but when he did they did good. Chelsea was okay but I was expecting her to be better honestly. A cha cha with no hips is a major drawback and even her solid legs couldn’t make up for it. I thought Kendra did really good. She is still unstable through the turns but when she’s not turning her lines and legs are becoming fantastic. Romeo continues to be blah for me, Sugar Ray is still struggling with his posture and Wendy- I couldn’t even finish watching her performance. Oh, I forgot Chris- it was emotional but again I didn’t enjoy Cheryl’s choreography, it was a bit generic to me.

So as far as dancing goes, I actually enjoyed last week more but it probably has a lot to do with all the Rumbas + a Waltz which are no favorites of mine.

Loved your rankings Courtney! I agree with pretty much everything you said. I think Ralph and Karina had a decent Rumba and I did like it, but obviously mixed reviews from the judges. I hope Karina will work with him on the critique they receive from them and his hands. It will show signs of improvement and please the judges. I think its safe to say the audience and viewers love him though and will probably be safe. Hines was enjoyable as always. Chris is just improving week after week. I was moved by his Rumba. It was hard to watch Kirstie and Mak’s Rumba after they fell, but I thought they did well and hoping Maks is okay. The Waltz that Petra had sure suited her and she is such a sweet and stunning person. However, I agree with most others by saying it was over scored. I am glad that I was not alone when I thought I saw a few lifts during her routine that happens to be missed by Carrie Ann. Judges sure love Kendra. I don’t get it. She had some impressive moves.

Nice comments guys!! I actually thought Petra’s dance was stunning and I think shes turnung into a good dancer. Wendy was painfull to watch and iImissed the show last night so i dont know that much at this point. Haha! Love your rankings everybody! 😀

Great discussion. Really good for me to get a different perspective on the night because I didn’t enjoy personal story week at all and hope TPTB never repeat it.

I guess Len and I are a match made in heaven because I agreed with a lot of his comments. It’s unfortunate that this week the celebs were coming from such a vulnerable place, but the judging has to go on. If Len didn’t like what he saw, he needed to point it out.

My cold, cold heart was largely untouched by the dancing. I liked hearing the celebs tell their story and found their video pieces quite moving. However, for me, hardly any of it translated to the dance floor in a satisfying way. So I found most of the dancing emotionally overwrought and technically underwhelming. I won’t score the teams because I’m afraid my bias against this week’s theme would affect my judgment. Instead I’ll give Personal Story Week Awards:
Favorite Dance : Petra & Dmitry. It was one of the few where the emotion on the dance floor actually touched me so the technical deficiencies didn’t grate as much. (Honorable mention to Chris because of his genuine vulnerability. I’m liking him more and more.)

Cutest Dance: Chelsea & Mark. Yes, she needs to work on more hip action and “bringin’ the sexy”, but I liked what she did. She looked adorable in her costume, too.

Most Enjoyable Dance: Hines & Kym. For Week 3, Hines was really working it and mostly getting it done. If there’s justice in any of this, he’ll make the finals, and then, I’d like to see the Samba again. In Week 10 he would nail it to the wall with a pneumatic nail gun.

Most Overrated Dance: Kendra & Louis. Kendra is improving slightly but what she did last night didn’t warrant the effusive praise it garnered. Nothing against her as a person, I just don’t care for her as a dancer. Also, IMO she doesn’t like Louis (not that he’s particularly likeable), and she’s not good enough to cover it up when they dance (which bothers me).

Most Painful Dance to Watch: Who else but Wendy and (Poor) Tony. Please whomever is in control of the universe, get her off the show tonight. ASIDE: If they keep giving him partners like Kate and Wendy, they’ll have to start announcing him as Poor Tony, e.g., “Dancing the Foxtrot, (Fill-in-the-blank) and her partner Poor Tony Dovolani.”

“Gutsy-est” Dance: Kirstie and Maks. If that had happened to just about any other celeb this season (except perhaps Ralph), they wouldn’t have been able to recover and give us even half as much of a performance as these two did. I’d love to have them dance the encore, but I think it would be better for Maks to rest the leg tonight.

@Dan – No idea about the dress, but you may try tweeting Brooke & asking who the designer was. She may tweet back and tell you – she seems to like naming-names when it comes what she’s wearing. I know she wears a lot of Herve Leger. Good luck!

@Fig, Maks said in the GMA interview that Teddy (one of the Troupe dancers) is his back-up, so he would probably step in for rehearsals if necessary. Agree though that Jonathan could keep Kirstie on track (judging by his experience with Marie Osmond).

Kirstie Alley is a complete cow. That’s why she fell. She’s not as bad as I thought she’d be, but don’t bullshit with yourselves. She’s nothing more than decent, and doesn’t deserve all this support. She could’ve hurt Maks – and it pisses me off that she got the same score as power couples like Ralph, Chris, or others when she obviously didn’t deserve it.

Oh Al, if I remember correctly, you were one of the ones defending Bristol fairly vehemently last season…if you’re gonna call Kirstie a cow, then you had better label Bristol as one, too, because they’re not much different in size Care to retract your previous statement?

Bottom line: you’re being judgemental, and if you keep up with insult-slinging, I’ll just start deleting – and believe me, I’m not “bullshitting” on that one 😉

Kirstie has slimmed down quite a bit already! I felt so bad for them because I knew there would be people like Al making comments about her – and it had to be so humiliating for them both.

Kirstie is big, she was a Jenny Craig spokesperson for god’s sake, but she moves gracefully and is pleasant to watch. Al needs to hang out with George Lopez, who is not the fittest person himself, I might add.

I’m with Vogue – Derek gets hurt a lot from doing various moves and he’s had some of the tiniest partners around. Mark dislocated a shoulder dancing with Sabrina and as I recall it wasn’t doing a high stress move, but a rather simple one. Dancing as often as these guys do puts a tremendous amount of strain on the body – sooner or later something is going to break, regardless of who you’re dancing with.

Firstly, I read this link and immediately though you guys mught be interested. I was kinda glad he turned down the show this season since chris is awesome. Hopefully next season cuz I don’t know if anybody watched wrestling but Stone Cold has a huge fanbase and is probably the closest thing to a major superstar to come out of the WWE during the 90s besides the Rock. He is surprisingly not a bad actor too. Secondly, Kirstie is putting 100% of effort in and really is losing weight. She is so far from a cow. She is probably still one of the favorites to make the finals and win it all (hopefully her fall didn’t affect that). Thirdly, if Maks needs a rest at any point they toatally should get jonathan. The dude is amazing. I have always voted for him whenever he was on the show (even when paired with Macy)….He is a class act. I watched the troupe video and Teddy seems nice and everything but i would prefer jonathan since he already has a fan base and people already know who he is. http://www.wetpaint.com/dancing-with-the-stars/articles/stone-cold-steve-austin-says-he-turned-down-dwts

I think the fall was just a matter of a leg cramp or pulled muscle; I think we’ve all been there at some point. I know that I have been put down before by a sudden, massive leg cramp. It something that you can’t stop or control. I really felt bad for Maks last night, it really was bad timing, ha. I thought they redeemed themselves beautifully!

Wendy has to go home tonight. It’s really sad when your partner doesn’t even want to be there anymore. (Poor Tony).

I honestly think that whne the producers got wendy and kirtsie, they thought wendy would be a good dancer and based on the fact that kirstie is blowing everybody’s minds with how naturally good she is I’m guessing people didn’t expect much from her. Wendy is nice and all but she has got to go.